Railway-rail support and coupling.



G. O. AGKER. RAILWAY RAIL SUPPORT AND COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.6,1911.

0 554 Patented July 29, 1913.

amoemtoz GMZAGZQW l w bweooeo 1 FTQE.

CHARLES C. ACKER, 0F W'INNSBORO, TEXAS.

RAILWAY-RAIL SUPPORT AND COUPLING.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES C. hence, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ninnsboro, in the county of Wood and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Rail Supports and Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in combined railway rail supports and joints, and has for one of its objects to improve the construction and increase the efliciency and utility of devices of this character and produce a rigid combined rail support'chair and joint which securely supports the rail without the necessity for employing bolts or other detachable fastening means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character whereby the integrity and rigidity of the joints are increased by the impact of the rolling stock passing over the rails.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a device of this character whereby the joints of the rails are firmly supported and reinforced so that jarring and concussion at the joints are obviated and a practically continuous rail produced.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction as hereafter shown and described, and then specifically pointed out in the claim, and in the drawings illustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the im proved device including portions of the confronting ends of two rails; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

The improved device may be applied without material structural changes to railway rails of different sizes and will be arranged when employed as a rail joint to extend over portions of the confronting ends of two rails, and when employed as an intermediate support or chair the device will be located intermediate the ends of the rails. For the purpose of illustration the improved device is shown applied as a combined rail joint, rail support and chair and applied to the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 6, 1911.

Patented July 29, 1913. Serial No. 647,994.

confronting ends of two rails represented respectively at 10-41, of the usual form and provided with apertures 23 extending entirely through the vertical webs. The im proved device comprises a base member 12 which extends beneath the rail ends and for a considerable distance laterally of the same and rests over two or more ties indicated at 13. The base 12 is of suflicient width to receive spike recesses 14 for spikes 15 of the usual form. Any required number of the spike recesses may be employed, but for the purpose of illustration four are shown which is the number which will usually be e1nployed. Formed integral with the base 12 at one side is a rail-engaging brace 16 conforming at its inner side with the tie flange and vertical web of the rail and extended at its upper edge beneath the tread portion of the rail as represented at 17 The member 1617 thus forms an effectual brace at one side of the rail and performs the same function as the ordinary fish plate or clamp plate.

Directed upwardly from the base 12 at the opposite side of the rail is a relatively wide rib 1S inclined inwardly toward the rail and overhanging the tie flange as shown in Fig. 3. Located between the inclined rib 18 and the rail is a wedge-shaped locking member or block 19 having a lip 20 overhanging the upper edge of the inclined web 18. This lip 20 is rounded to correspond with the rounded upper edge of the inclined web 18, thus facilitating the assembling of the wedge and chair and providing means whereby the members are properly and readily assembled without particular care being taken as to the manner of adjusting the wedge member.

It will be noted that by having the over hanging lip 20 extending laterally from the upper or smaller edge of the wedge-shaped locking member and bearing against the upper edge of the rib 18, said lip by contact with the rib serves to receive the impact or jar imparted to the rail when a heavily loaded train is passing over the joint a portion of the strain being transmitted through the medium of the locking member directly to the flange of the rail. It will also be noted that the entire lower edge of the locking member rests upon the flange of the rail, and that the lateral thrust is taken up by the rib 18 which extends the entire height of the locking member and bears against the overhanging lip. Attention is also called to the fact that the thrust or impact incident to the passage of a train on a rail is imparted to the loclting'member to effect wedging between the members, and thence through the medium of the locking member and m'erhanging lip to the rib 18, so that the impact or stress is uniformly dis tributed and not received directly on one part of the joint.

It will also be seen that the base of the locking member rests on the flange of the rail for the entire width of the locking member, and that the upper end of the locking member is provided with an overhanging lip which, by engagement with the upper end of the rib, serves to receive a portion of the strain or stress imparted to the rail when a train is passing over the joint.

The block 19 corresponds transversely to the tie flange and the vertical web and likewise to the inner face of the inclined rib 18 and bears by its upper edges beneath the tread portion of the rail as shown at 21. By this simple means it will be obvious that a wedging action is produced between the rail and the rib 18 by the pressure or impact exerted by rolling stock when passing over the rail, and thus insures the continuous rigid coupling between the parts, and effectually prevents the creation of any looseness between them. The member 16- 17 firmly supports the rail from one side while the rib 18 co-acting with the wedging form of the block 19, effectually supports the rail from the opposite side, and thus in sures a continuous rigid engagement between the parts, and prevents all danger of looseness under the severe strains to which devices of this character are subjected. The locking block member 19 is provided with a plurality of studs 22 which engage in corresponding cavities in the vertical web of the rail, and thus effectually lock the block 19 in position and prevent movement longitudinally. The apertures 23 are preferably slight-1y slotted to provide for eX- pansion and contraction under climatic changes.

The inner face of the brace web 16 bears its full width against the adjacent faces of tile vertical webs of the rails while the studs 22 which extend entirely through the ver tical web bear firmly and for their full size against the inner face of the brace web. The outer faces of the studs are thus flush with and bear against the brace web. The lugs 22 are of the same length as the thickness of the vertical web of the rail so that the three parts 1619 and 22 are firmly supported and bound together, and present a solid structure which is capable of efiectually resisting the severe strains to which devices of this character are subjected.

It will be noted that the improved combined joint and support is produced and operates without the necessity for employing clamping bolts or like devices, the rigid.- ity of the oint being wholly secured by the wedging action between the parts produced. by the impact of the rolling stock, and the greater the impact the more rigid will be the joint. It will also be noted by this arrangement of the parts that any creeping movement of the rails will not result in displacing the parts of the improved joint.

At its ends the block 19 is formed with ribs 28 which overhang the ends of the rib 18, and thus materially increase the strength of the joint and effectually prevent end wise creeping of the rails. The ribs 28 are adapted to be bent into parallel relations to the body of the block 19 when the joint is to be dismembered.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

The combination with meeting rail sections having transverse apertures extending entirely through their vertical webs, of a rail support, and joint comprising a base extending beneath the rail sections and provided on one side thereof with an upstanding brace having a smooth unobstructed inner face for engagement with the inner face of the rail and provided at its other side with an upwardly and inwardly inclined rib spaced from said rail section to form an intermediate wedge-shaped pocket, a correspondingly shaped locking member having one face thereof provided with spaced studs extending within the apertures in the webs of the rail sections, and its other face smooth and unobstructed and inclined to conform to and adapted to bear against the inner face of the rib, the bottom of the locking member bearing against the flange of the rail for the entire width of said locking member, and the upper edge of the locking member bearing against the ball of the rail and having a portion thereof extended lat erally beyond the ball of the rail to provide a continuous longitudinal lip adapted to bear against the upper edge of the rib for the entire length of the latter, the brace, locking member and riball extending the major portion of the height of the rail sections, whereby to form a reinforcement for both sides of the rail sections at the juncture thereof.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES C. AGKER. V [n s.]' Witnesses W. H. TURNER, B. C. CAIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner offatents, Washington, D. G. 

